Worst case scenario
by Izumi1909
Summary: Reynir's parents find out that he'll be stuck with a small Silent World expedition for some time, and get extremely worried about how the rest of the crew is treating their son. They quickly shape their own mental image of the crew, which may clash with one little thing: reality.
1. The news

**Note:** This was initially intended to be a one-shot and initially just had the same as the story when I publised it on the SS forum. I decide to treat it a first chapter here and hence gave it its own name.

 **The news**

Árni and Sigríður were still taking in the news. Reynir's trip had somehow ended up in an expedition in the Silent World organized by some crazy Swedish man. Granted that many military units took people as young as thirteen and that Reynir was already twenty, but that trip was his first time away from home. And the high risk of Illness in the Silent World meant Reynir would have to stay with that small military unit until the quarantine ship meant for the whole team would come pick them up at the end of their mission. Which was to last a several weeks. It had only been the group's third day, crossing of the bridge included, when Reynir had ended up with them. Sigríður asked the question that had been crossing Árni's mind as well.  
-Sir, do you have any information about the people on the expedition?  
The official opened the binder he had under his arm and turned a few pages.  
-This I do. Five people, from all over. Except Iceland. But do not worry, there are two people who speak Icelandic. And one of them is their medic, a Dane.  
This was good news. The Danes may refuse to acknowledge the Old Gods, but this was secondary to the fact that the medic spoke their language and was from one of the relatively educated nations was a small blessing.  
-The other is a Finnish skald. Young woman, not that much older than your son, actually.  
This was already less good news. In Finland, knowing how to read and write at all probably made one qualify as a skald. They could only imagine. The girl corrupting poor, naïve Reynir some way or another before the expedition was over.  
-What about the three others?  
-Another Finn, night scout, young man around your son's age. Mage as well. Has the same last name as the skald girl, must be related.  
They could only imagine. The girl telling her mage relative lies against which Reynir could not defend himself due to not speaking his language. Finns had different magic, which they didn't know much about. They didn't dare think of what kind of retaliation a Finnish mage under the impression that a family member had been wronged was capable of.  
-Swede, around the same age, cleanser. He has the same last name as the man organizing the whole thing, apparently.  
They could only imagine. The youngster bullying Reynir and getting away with it because daddy or whoever was the big boss.  
-Their commander is Norwegian, quite older that everyone else. Only the medic is older than her, actually.  
They could only imagine. Norwegians were the closest kin to the Icelanders, but valued things that Reynir simply did not have. She was probably expecting Reynir to keep pace with the rest of the unit and considering any bullying from the Swedish kid well-deserved if he did not, which was very likely. She may even be bullying him herself, or threatening to leave him behind if he did not obey an insanely strict set of rules. The Finnish girl was probably telling lies to her too, claiming that Reynir had broken the rules behind her back, whether he had or not. They really hoped that the medic was keeping things from getting too bad. And wondered what Reynir was going through at the moment, among all the possibilities that they were considering.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Silent World.

The sounds from the tank's entrance room indicated that Sigrun and Emil had come back from their latest book collecting mission, and going through decontamination. Both himself and Tuuri had been in the office and in the middle of something during their arrival and would not be allowed back out before the end of the decontamination process anyway, so they both elected to finish their respective tasks. Tuuri finished hers first, and put her drawing to dry next to Mikkel's. The batch of diluted brown ink had initially been made by Mikkel to color his own drawing, but the quantity of water necessary to get the light, almost orange shade he had desired had resulted in more than enough material to color several drawings. Tuuri and himself had chosen the same model as Mikkel, but had not managed to draw it as well as he did. Reynir was just about to color his own drawing when Sigrun stormed into the office, yelling something in Norwegian, prompting Tuuri to move herself and the chair on which she had been sitting away from the desk and towards the radio leaning against the opposite wall. Emil entered the office as well, reached to pet the kitten sleeping in the bed that had been made for it on the desk, and only after that seemed to notice that Reynir was sitting at the desk, a paint brush in his hand. They didn't interact much, but Emil had been the one to save the kitten, which made Tuuri guess that he was probably a little jealous that the animal had ended up with a clear preference for Reynir. In the middle of moving toward leaving the office, Emil caught sight of the cat drawings, noticed the materials that Tuuri had been using just moments ago and grabbed one of the small pieces of paper that they had been using for drawing. Reynir put his own finished drawing to dry and went out to check if Mikkel needed any help with the laundry. As he was heading out, he saw Lalli emerge from the dormitory and sleepily walk towards the office. By dinnertime, six cat drawings were drying on the desk instead of three.


	2. The medic

**The medic**

The more Árni and Sigríður thought of it, the more it seemed like the only possible silver lining in Reynir's situation: the Danish medic who spoke Icelandic and was probably doing his best to protect him from the others. Maybe even teaching him a little of how to deal with them himself. Reynir would quickly figure out it was best to stay close to him at all times, but the man still had a job to do. There had to be moments at which the presence of a non-immune person at his side was a hazard for at least one of them and Reynir had to leave that sanctuary. In such cases, Reynir was certainly on his own, at the mercy of whoever the medic was not treating. And since Danes did not believe in magic, chances were that whatever the Finnish scout was doing to him was going unnoticed. Or maybe that particular Dane had seen the scout in action, changed his mind about magic and knew the scout was doing something, but still had no idea what to do about it. The only option he had to tell him to stop whatever he was doing was through the very relative who was probably telling him lies to get Reynir on his bad side. The skald was probably lying to the medic to cover herself as well, they just realized. They really hoped the man could see through it. He was probably doing his best regardless, his best unfortunately being not enough when literally everyone else on the crew had it in for Reynir. Making an effort to seek happier thoughts, they started wondering what kind of impact spending so much time with a medic could have on Reynir. He was probably learning a lot about medicine. Maybe he would be able to take better care of sick or wounded sheep if... no, when he came back. And with the kind of people the rest of the crew probably were, the medic could actually be happy to have a fellow kind soul at his side. Or simply someone to talk to, as the Finnish "skald" was certainly not providing such a thing.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Silent World:

Reynir stepped into the office, where Tuuri was copying books as usual:  
-Please tell me there is something interesting for Mikkel to read in there.  
-Not really yet, why?  
He took a deep breath before breaking her the news:  
-He's done with his tasks for the day. Not much to do until the three others come back.  
Tuuri twitched. Mikkel could perfectly keep himself busy with his own thoughts, but the problem was that it usually resulted in the first person to speak to him after the lull in activity getting worse teasing than usual. Last time the book collecting party had been on the receiving end of this, Reynir was quite sure he had learned a few Norwegian swear words.  
-You could... chat with him a little? suggested Tuuri.  
-I tried. Couldn't go through more than five minutes of it before leaving him an opening.  
-You started out at thirty seconds, you're making quick progress.  
-What about your own record? You're going to grow soft if you don't practice from time to time.  
Tuuri grumbled and got up from her chair:  
-Okay, okay, I get it, I'll take my turn. But I'm curious, what did he do, this time?  
-Convinced me that lack of exposure to sheep was going to make sick soon.  
Tuuri gave him a look of disbelief:  
-Again?  
Reynir looked away from her, a little embarrassed:  
-He started out from another angle than last time.  
Tuuri sighed:  
-Thanks for the warning. Maybe I do need that practice after all.  
Just as Tuuri was going to leave the room, they both heard yelling in Norwegian, coming from far away. At this point, Reynir could tell it was too long for Sigrun to just be yelling "We're back!".  
Mikkel came to the office door:  
-You two, in the front. Sigrun popped her stiches again, I'll need to treat her in here right after decontamination.  
Reynir could tell both of them were holding back a sigh of relief. Seemingly having that reaction to Sigrun neglecting those wounds would have attracted unwanted attention from Mikkel. Especially coming from Reynir, who knew all too well how she had gotten them in the first place. They did as Mikkel told them, but Tuuri had her ear glued to the door as soon as any indication of activity in the office started, and was telling him what was happening. Even though the walls didn't keep that much sound out, the exchanges were all in Scandinavian laguages.  
-Mikkel's scolding pretty much everyone for their part in the wounds re-opening. Sounds like it happened on something Sigrun didn't actually have to use that arm for again.  
Reynir had trouble believing that he was the same person who had just briefly tricked him into believing there was such a thing as "sheep deficiency".


	3. The scout

**The scout**

Árni and Sigríður both realized that they were awake early and that the still-dark sky put the same person on their mind: the Finnish night scout. Early morning was certainly one of the times of the day during which he and Reynir crossed paths, the man under the impression that their son was mistreating his relative when it was actually the other way around. His relative's lies probably happened at the end of his shift rather than the beginning, so he would be less likely to have second thoughts about what she told him. His possible means of revenge were countless. They considered the possibility that the Finnish gods had a heart and prevented him from casting too strong spells on Reynir, maybe even told him that his relative was lying to him. No, Reynir wasn't under their protection, hence they probably did not care. And if they did, the man probably still chose to believe his relative over them and, strictly speaking, did not actually need powerful magic to make Reynir's life miserable. He could do something to Reynir's food while he was in the middle of eating it. Make him drop the captain or the cleanser's food as he was serving it to them in hope of getting on their good side, preferably on the captain and/or cleanser themselves. Have him fall with the worst timing possible, so someone else would either step or trip on him. Even when not under the effect one of his spells, Reynir was probably living in constant fear of the next one. He probably didn't dare get anywhere close to the man, even as he was asleep. To add insult to injury, this man was going to be the first mage around which Reynir spent any significant length of time. They feared greatly that he would he be unable to trust mages back home after going through such a treatment.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Silent World:

Lalli was trying to hide it from everyone else, but he could not from Reynir. Ghosts had been following them for the entire trip to Odense. Lalli would cast the spells intended to ward them off when he came back from scouting, and only then scratch the door to signal his presence to everyone else. The only reason Reynir was awake to hear and sense him doing so was that the distant presence of the ghosts had started keeping him from sleeping through the night. Mikkel simply thought that his early insomnia had come back. With no official duties, Reynir could catch a nap during the day, during which presence of ghosts wasn't as strong, without inconveniencing anyone. He thought he understood why Lalli was originally a night scout. If nighttime activity of spirits kept one from sleeping anyway and there was a need for people willing to take night shifts, this worked best for everyone. He rolled over and let his arms stretch on the empty mattress under Tuuri's bunk, the only space available to do so, as Mikkel was sleeping on his other side. Despite usually being the only one asleep during the day, Lalli chose to sleep in there. Tuuri had once told him that Lalli slept under his bed at Keuruu as well. It did look comfy and reassuring in there, but he wouldn't dare actually try to sleep in the spot. Lalli didn't like him very much, he had told Onni so in the earliest dream Reynir remembered. They couldn't talk without Tuuri translating in the waking world anyway, so they had reached an unspoken agreement to stay out of each other's way. However, if Reynir ever found a way of helping with the ghosts, they were going to have to coordinate their efforts at some point. And Lalli was still giving him something without quite realizing or intending to. Mikkel and Emil didn't believe in magic. He sometimes felt that Sigrun and Tuuri were humoring him rather than actually believing him when it came to his attempts to make useful runes. Lalli's presence meant that there was one person in the crew who knew for sure that he was a mage and saw the same things he did. This was the reason Reynir was considering having his nap at the same time as Lalli's and visiting him in the dream world to ask him if there was another reason than the ghosts for the bad mood in which he had been as of late according to Tuuri. The problem was that Lalli had reacted quite violently the first and only time he had gone into his protected area uninvited. He suddenly had an idea.

Later, in the dream world:

-Hey Lalli, can you hear me? I'm trying a new trick.  
Lalli was very tempted to tell Reynir to go bother Onni with that annoying dog of his instead, but that would let him know that he could actually hear him through it. He was hoping he would give up and get the animal out of his protected area if he ignored it long enough. It was still interesting that he could do this. Lalli didn't know much about foreign magic, but it had taken him several months of training to be able to do anything similar to this with his luonto. Even if it was easier for foreign mages, chances were that Reynir was succeeding at this early for someone who had been aware of his powers for barely more than two weeks and was finding out how they were working on his own. Maybe Lalli wouldn't have to do everything if the ghosts finally caught up with them, after all.


	4. The cleanser

**The cleanser**

Árni and Sigríður had just had a discussion with a neighbor complaining about the things the children of a wealthy nearby household got away with on a daily basis. They had already forgotten whose children the neighbor had been complaining about. They now had the cleanser who was related to the expedition's organizer on their minds. They quickly realized that someone used to working with fire and explosives was probably just as bad to have as a bully as a mage. It could actually be worse. In the mage's case, there was at least a remote possibility that his gods were limiting what he could do to Reynir. Cleansers did not need to call upon their gods to use their explosives or flamethrowers. They remembered the official had told them that the crew had been ordered to keep Reynir alive, and that protocol forbade from leaving non-immunes alone without immune guards in troll-infested areas. The captain had to be enforcing these rules. But what if she left Reynir alone with the cleanser as a guard, while the scout was asleep, under the cover of showing the medic and the skald something that could interest them? Maybe the cleanser would play a "prank" involving explosives on Reynir, the "prank" would go wrong and, when everyone came back, he would claim that he was fending off a troll attack and that Reynir "accidentally" got caught in the blast. Nobody would question him, because he was their employer's relative, despite the obvious absence of troll remains in the vicinity. The medic would do his best to repair the damage, the skald complain about her favorite toy being broken but ultimately turn her attention to the cleanser himself, the captain possibly scold him for the waste of resources but not much else. They knew that by the time the news reached headquarters, everyone would be agreeing, willingly or reluctantly, that it the whole thing was an unfortunate accident. Would they get Reynir back with an eye missing, or even a limb, all because of some rich kid's boredom? They prayed the gods that the other members of the crew realized that this could happen, understood the implications and made sure Reynir and the cleanser were never left alone.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Silent World:

The idea suddenly felt stupid. Manning the radio in case somebody called and stayed to talk with him if the person they were trying to reach was unavailable. Speaking with him was probably the last thing all but one of the people at headquarters wanted to do. Maybe he should take the earphones off and try talking to Emil. Tuuri claimed that Swedish was actually quite similar to Icelandic. And if Emil had somehow managed to befriend Lalli despite not speaking a single word of Finnish, it couldn't be much harder for him and Reynir to get along, right? Just as Reynir was about to act on the idea, the radio buzzed. He might as well answer:  
-If you're trying to reach Sigrun, Mikkel or Tuuri, they are not here. Can I take a message for any of them?  
-Does this mean Lalli is here?  
The familiar accent almost made him jolt:  
-Onni! Uh... yes, Lalli is here but he's sleeping and Mikkel forbade us to wake him up unless it was necessary. He's been basically taking daily double shifts lately, so Mikkel's been making sure he gets all the sleep he can. I'm not sure "getting a magic lessons from his cousin" will count as a good reason to wake him. But if you really, really need to talk to him now, I'll wake him and figure out a good excuse before Mikkel comes back.  
-It is not so important that such measures are needed. I will accept your offer to take a message.  
Once Reynir had noted the message that he would later give to Tuuri, Reynir asked if Onni needed anything else.  
-To know since when you are manning the radio.  
-Since the only other awake person here right now is Emil. The most entertaining thing I did today was mend the canvas on a folding stool. Uh... before you called, of course.  
They had to do some of that cover-up research from time to time, and that research was the reason Tuuri was part of the expedition. Whatever was interesting to Tuuri was to Mikkel as well. Emil came to the office asking something. He had probably recognized his name and thought he had been called, considering that he was now reaching his hand towards him, probably expecting to be given the earphones. Tuuri had suggested starting with short and simple sentences:  
-Oh, no, not for you. Tuuri's brother, Lalli's cousin. Doesn't speak Swedish.  
Either one of the words being close enough to its Swedish equivalent, or the association of Tuuri and Lalli's names, had apparently made Emil understand who he was talking with. Emil went back outside, but not before raising an eyebrow and asking a bewildered question. He was probably surprised that there was someone at headquarters with whom Reynir could have somewhat of a casual conversation. Unfortunately, any chance of resuming said conversation got shot down by Onni's voice speaking from much further away from the radio than before:  
-Hey, you three, what are doing with this?  
Reynir heard the sound of something being dropped on the floor just as he took the earphones off, wishing Onni good luck with Emil's young cousins. Well, he had technically talked to Emil just now. Re-doing his braid while waiting for the others to come back couldn't hurt.


	5. The captain

**The captain**

Árni and Sigríður were wondering about the captain, who was the member of the crew actually in charge of making sure Reynir stayed alive. She probably spent the bare minimum of resources she could manage to do so. Fed him leftovers or any food that had gone bad, made him sleep in some extremely cold corner of their vehicle with just a beaten-up blanket that didn't keep him warm at all, while at the same time expecting him to keep up with the military pace that the crew was following. They were certain Reynir had fallen ill at least once from this by now. The medic probably had the authority to make his conditions a little more bearable while he was sick, but the bad conditions would come back the second the captain decided he looked healthy enough to not need any "coddling". On top of this, she was probably doing absolutely nothing to keep the scout, the cleanser and the skald in line. She sounded like they type of person who looked down on those unable to fend for themselves and saw no reason to make life any easier for them. She maybe even saw the scout and the cleanser's treatment of Reynir as entertaining in some way, while the skald had certainly by now convinced her that Reynir was the one who needed to be kept in line, while her own behavior was spotless. The bad conditions imposed by the captain were maybe even what allowed the skald girl to trap Reynir into compromising situations so easily. All she'd have to do was to offer him extra food in exchange of "helping" her with something that inevitably ended up making him look bad in the captain's eyes. This would get him considered as even more of a liability than he already was merely from his presence. Because of this, the captain probably saw Reynir's habit of sticking as close to the medic as he could as some kind of cowardice and the medic's protectiveness of him as a baffling waste of time and energy. Things had probably come to the point that if the captain ever had to make a choice between Reynir's life and that of a member of the crew, she would choose the member of the crew without a second thought, and let their son die. They prayed the gods that no such situation would ever happen during the expedition, as it would mean certain death for Reynir.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Silent World:

Reynir knew Sigrun's opinion about him had gotten better since that day on which he had overheard at lot of yelling from the radio room while being held "prisonner" in the dormitory, and Mikkel's news that he was stuck with them had made him understand that the yelling was probably about him. Yet that smile addressed to him as he was bringing dry laundry inside took him aback. Emil, Lalli and Mikkel were the ones out this time. Mikkel had decided that at this point, the only way Sigrun would have a chance of taking proper care of that troll bite was by being the obligatory immune guard to him and Tuuri; as long as there was no attack, it consisted mostly of leaning next to the tank's main entrance and keeping one's eyes and ears open. Mikkel had assured Reynir that Sigrun was career troll hunter, that she had certainly gotten worse wounds before and that it was probably one of the reasons why he was having so much trouble getting her to take proper care of the bite. Still, Reynir had thought slings were only for broken bones before he had seen Sigrun's. That the wound required one told him just how bad it was. Sigrun must have noticed him staring at her wounded arm, as she used the healthy one to push him inside the tank as delicately as she could, saying something in a relatively soft voice that she seldom used.  
-She said to stop worrying and that she'd do it again with no second thoughts.  
That was Tuuri translating for him, having heard everything thanks to the open office door. Reynir thanked Sigrun, then rushed into the dormitory to drop the dry laundry on Emil's bunk. Maybe he should ask the gods for some kind of healing rune as well. But a healing rune would be no good if a ghost got Sigrun again, and he felt in no position to ask for more than one specific thing at once. Something for the ghosts first, to keep their handling from resting entirely on Lalli's shoulders. Any healing runes would have to come later. He thought of something: Sigrun had worked with Iceland-trained mages before, someone may have even used a healing rune on her once. If she remembered what it looked like, he could draw it himself.  
-Hey, Tuuri, could you ask Sigrun if she ever saw a mage cast a healing rune? And if so, what it looked like?  
Tuuri repeated his question in Swedish, and got an answer. Unfortunately, it turned out that Sigrun had never really paid attention to such things. From the tone of one of her sentences, Reynir was also quite sure Sigrun had given him one of those pieces of "advice" that Mikkel translated truthfully out of amusement, but that Tuuri tended to just not mention. Reynir still wished he could do something more. He still remembered Sigrun's arm, between him and that troll's mouth, while Mikkel was already pulling him away.


	6. The skald

**The skald**

Árni and Sigríður didn't know how they had missed this piece of information on the documentation left behind by the official for so long. The skald girl not being immune made them completely re-evaluate the time during which Reynir had to be stuck alone with her. The official had told them the expedition had the means of isolating non-immunes from potentially contaminated immune combatants, but these means had certainly been set up for the one non-immune person that was supposed to be on the expedition. The medic probably had no other choice than putting both Reynir and the skald in the same small isolation chamber. Whatever happened in there would be Reynir's word against the skald's, the skald being more likely to be believed. This only added to the fact that the skald girl had already been the member of the crew they were the most worried about before they noticed her immunity status. The girl was able to hurt Reynir with words and trick him, where all of Reynir's other bullies only had actions. They were also certain that she was trying to seduce him, using whatever passed for courtship in Finland. Reynir was probably the perfect target for a young Finnish woman who was educated by her country's standards and wanted to flaunt her knowledge of Icelandic. The lies she told to her mage relative and the captain probably happened when Reynir refused her advances. And if he one day ended up giving up and saying "yes" to something, she would probably claim the whole thing was his idea if they were caught together. How far was that girl going to go? Was this expedition going to make them grandparents? Were they going to be left with no choice but to have that girl as a daughter-in-law? Was she doing it all just to get herself out of Finland? They weren't sure whether the latter option was better or worse than the idea that she could be just seeing Reynir as some kind of toy. And the two options weren't actually mutually exclusive. They wished that this expedition would end soon, so Reynir could get away from that horrible young woman.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Silent World:

Tuuri laughed:  
-Wait, your parents really told you there was still a ban on non-immune people travelling internationally? How did you ever find out it was not the case?  
-One of my brothers told me while he was visiting. Poor Bjarni must be gritting his teeth right now if he knows where I am. The whole family, actually, come to think of it.  
Reynir hadn't actually thought of them in a while with all that had been going on. Tuuri tapped on the windshield, as they were once again in isolation in the front of the vehicle:  
-Well, here we are. So much for them trying to keep us in.  
Reynir looked out the windshield, at the long-abandoned town that could be seen from it:  
-Yes...  
-But I'm curious, how come your siblings got to leave home and not you?  
-Dagrenning children, more like adoptive siblings blood-wise. All four of them are immune. What about Lalli? How did he ever get to become a scout if Onni wanted to keep both of you inside the base?  
-Onni tried, trust me. But the options that would both keep him inside and did not require Onni or me to be constantly keeping an eye on him ran out quite fast. I also heard Lalli tell Onni that one of them should be outside the base from time to time, and it might as well be him. Guess it had to do with whatever reason we moved there in the first place.  
By now, Reynir had pieced together that Onni and Lalli were hiding a lot from Tuuri, and she knew it. But she had picked up the habit in her own way. Reynir knew how Lalli usually talked from the dream world and the few times she had translated something Lalli wanted to tell him in the waking world, she had made him sound much more tactful and polite than he really was. Part of him was also convinced that if it weren't for this habit of Tuuri's, Sigrun would be taking his powers much more seriously. But all around, she had been a pleasant surprise in this situation he hadn't chosen. Another non-immune, from the other side of the world, who knew what it was like to be locked behind walls while seeing all the immune people going in and out as they pleased and taking it for granted. Who, once out of those walls, wouldn't be satisfied until she saw the edge of the world. Who understood him on a level that the other members of the crew couldn't. Who had become a true friend. Tuuri's voice interrupted his thoughts:  
-Hey, shouldn't we be allowed out by now? Mikkel, what's taking so long?  
Mikkel's stern voice answered from the other side of the door:  
-I took the usual amount of time. The two of you are the ones who didn't hear me when I said you could come out half an hour ago out because you were chattering away. I was actually about to start making dinner early in hope that the smell would give you a hint.  
Had they really been talking for that long? Reynir didn't notice.


	7. The surprise

**The surprise**

Árni and Sigríður quickly realized the mistake they had made in refusing an official escort that would have taken them to the same location as the expedition's organizer and the relatives of some members of the crew that had been able to make it. They had simply not expected the pier to be so packed with people. So the members of this crew were going to return as heroes, after what they had probably done to their son. After more than three weeks of travel including two in quarantine, any exterior signs of mistreatment would have faded away. They had no idea where the welcoming party would be waiting and, as the ship approached, the crowd go too packed for them to get much further from where they were already standing. The boat eventually got close enough for them to try to identify the six figures standing on the bow of the boat, which was arriving bow-first, to their right. The figures formed a line on the side that would remain visible to Árni and Sigríður once the boat got closer. They quickly identified Reynir on the far left of the line, at the back of everyone else. They identified the other red-headed figure in front of the line, to the far right as the crew's captain, the medic behind her and the cleanser behind the medic. They took a little more time to identify the scout and the skald, as the former had a collar partially hiding his face and the latter had apparently cut her hair very short some time after the photo given to them had been taken. By the time they had identified everyone, the captain had started to wave at a portion of the crowd that gave every sign of being straight in front of the boat when all, except for the scout who looked like he was either taking a nap on the railing or being seasick, started waving as well, but did not move from their positions. Were they dreaming, or was Reynir happily waving at someone down there as well? Maybe it was just to show the organizers that he was present and alive. They suddenly felt watched. Trying to find where it came from, they noticed the scout was now staring at them. The scout turned his face in the direction of Reynir and the skald, moved to Reynir's back and poked him with his elbow, while using his other hand to point in their direction. Reynir finally noticed them, told the scout something and started waving a them, with a smile that somehow managed to say both "happy to see you" and "sorry, sorry, sorry, please don't yell at me". The commotion didn't go unnoticed by the skald, who saw them as well, asked Reynir something that was answered with a nod and started to wave at them with a big smile on her face. Nice try, they had a good idea of what she was up to. The discussion caught the attention of the medic, who noticed them as well and placed himself behind Reynir, putting two friendly hands on his shoulders and nodding towards them. The cleanser asked the skald something, briefly looked at them after getting his answer, but quickly lost interest in favor of talking to the scout, who had gone back to his original place right next to him. The captain took her turn at noticing them, asked the cleanser something and started yelling in the direction of the pier while pointing in Árni and Sigríður's direction. Couldn't get rid of Reynir fast enough, could she?

After yelling for a while, the captain joined the medic, Reynir and the skald. Just as she was doing this, something dropping from the scout's bent-over upper body to the water below pointed towards definite seasickness, while the cleanser held him to make sure he didn't fall over, a worried look on his face. Seeing this side of two people who had probably heartlessly bullied their son made them uneasy. When they got their focus back on Reynir, the captain was proudly lifting his arm with one hand, while using the other to point at an armband that they hadn't noticed before. They couldn't quite make out the symbol that was on it, but the color scheme matched the white, orange and black of the uniforms worn by the crew. Reynir wrestled the arm out of her grip, made a move to cover the symbol, then told her something that got either backed or translated by the medic. She didn't seem to agree with whatever she was told, but made a show of ruffling Reynir's hair with smile on her face before walking back to the bow of the boat. Reynir seemed to forget he had been waving at them, let out a sigh, looked at the hand-covered armband, looked at them again, this time completely apologetic and lacking any obvious sign of joy. Now they were curious as to what that symbol was supposed to be, why the captain seemed to think they should see the armband and why Reynir was electing to hide it from them at the moment. The skald noticed the gesture, told him something, and a few exchanges later had put a smile back on Reynir's face. Someone came through the crowd, calling Árni and Sigríður's names. They made themselves known, as soon got led to the welcoming party, getting there just in time to see everyone get off the boat. Everyone had apparently agreed to let Reynir off first. As he was running towards them, he had forgotten about hiding the symbol on the armband, which they they recognized despite his arms moving. The apprentice mage badge.


End file.
